WHAT'S IN THE
World's
Fair
Time
Capsule?
By HANS FANTEL
Just 25 years ago, on Sept. 23, 1938,
a unique "Time Capsule" an age
proof package of mementos of our civi
lization was buried at the site of the
first New York World's Fair.
From its contents, future historians may gain
a glimpse of our times. Die-stamped on the cap
sule are instructions that say in effect, "Do not
open until 6939" 6,000 years from the date of
that World's Fair.
But history is in a hurry these days. So much
has changed in 25 years that the Time Capsule
already needs a lot of revision. To bring it up to
date the Westinghouse Electric Corporation will
bury a new capsule alongside its old one at the
next World's Fair, which opens in April. The
capsule's contents, which will be announced early
next year, will supplement the old capsule, add
ing such later events of civilization as World
War II, atomic energy, space exploration, com
mercial tv, jet aircraft, antibiotics, polio vaccine,
and the United Nations.
But the torpedo-shaped "missile to posterity"
that celebrates its 25th anniversary this week
still carries the main message of our age. More
than anything else, common household articles
are the key to a civilization. That's why the cap
sule contains such homey articles as an alarm
clock, a can opener, a fountain pen, a light bulb,
a padlock and key, a toothbrush, a slide rule
(with instructions), a telephone, a watch, a safe
ty pin, eating utensils, a camera, and a doll.
To give some idea of our. personal habits,
there's an electric razor, a woman's make-up kit,
a nail file, and a woman's hat designed by Lilly
Dache. And as clues to our spare-time pursuits,
posterity may ponder over a golf ball and a tee,
some poker chips, a baseball, a smoking pipe, and
a deck of cards together with a copy of Hoyle's
Rules for Garnet.
To wrap up our entire era in a "capsule di
gest," the seven-foot, six-inch container has been
stuffed with microfilmed records of our history,
religions, arts, sciences, and customs some 10
million words, the equivalent of 200 full-length
novels. In this tightly packed kaleidoscope of
20th-century U.S.A., historians of the 70th cen
tury will find a treatise on science next to a
Mickey Mouse comic strip, a monograph on met
allurgy wrapped around The Reader's Digest on
the same microfilm reel, or a history of art snug
gled against Spalding's Baseball Guide.
Our arts and entertainments are documented
by microfilmed reproductions of a Picasso paint
ing, the music of "The Stars and Stripes Forever"
and "Flat-Foot Floogee," the famed novel, Gone
With the Wind, and a collection of Broadway
plays, vintage 1937.
Countless industrial reports will tell our dis
tant progeny how we made everything from met
als to women's wear. And to convey the flavor
of everyday life in the United States, the capsule
New capsule, suspended from three pylons, will
be displayed during 196i-65 Fair and buried later.
"l '"WjMHHl fTI--a-gSK L-rrJ .... .1
The capsule was lowered into its 5,000-year rest
ing place in 19S8 at site of the N.Y. World's Fair.
contains microcopies of almost every American
magazine published 25 years ago.
Since a language is organic and ever-changing,
Westinghouse has tried to preserve English for
future historians. The translation aids include
the Lord's Prayer in 300 languages and dialects,
on the chance that one or more of them might
still be known in 6939. By comparing those lan
guages with English, scientists may find clues to
the meaning of our words, just as we deciphered
the hieroglyphs of Egypt by comparing them
with Greek.
Thoughtfully a microscope for reading the film
has been included, just in case the knowledge of
optics is lost along the way.
All the items in the capsule were made of ma
terial certified by the U.S. Bureau of Standards
to stay fresh 5,000 years. Moreover, everything
was sealed in a Pyrex cylinder filled with chem
ically inert nitrogen to forestall corrosion. Fi
nally, the tube was housed in a shell made of the
most durable metal then known Cupaloy, a
highly tempered copper-chromium-silver alloy.
Three thousand copies of "directions" were
printed with special ink on permanent paper and
distributed to libraries, museums, monasteries,
lamaseries, and similar permanent and presum
ably safe archives throughout the world. "Dig
a hole in 6939," the notice says, and then gives
the exact location of the site, along with a basic
key to our language.
Of course, that's just like saying, "Do not open
till Christmas." Westinghouse hopes that future
scholars will be able to contain their curiosity.
Here's the "inside story" of the package for posterity that was buried 25
years ago this weekand how it will be brought up to date at the new World's Fair
COVER:
Ozzie Sweet caught Sandy Koufax, star
left-hander of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in
action. Despite the serious injury to his
pitching hand last year, Koufax is winding
up a record season. Set his story, p. 15.
V
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